A Vampyre Story is an adventure game by dev house Autumn Moon, and features staff members who have worked on such classic games as The Curse of Monkey Island and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, among others. It's fitting to reference these games in particular, because A Vampyre Story plays very much like the old titles -- which is both a blessing and a curse.

You control Mona De Lafitte, a French opera student who is kidnapped by a vampire named Shrowdy von Kieffer and turned into a vampire herself. All Mona wants is to become an opera star, so it's up to you to guide her on her quest to fulfilling her dream.

Now, given that I've already mentioned the classic adventure games, you might think that Vampyre's UI is the same bottom-third repository of action icons, but things are a little different on that score. The designers have opted for a full-screen approach, with no interface to get in the way of the gorgeous graphics. In an industry that frequently aches for some good art design -- opting instead for a desaturated, monochrome landscape -- this game makes the most of its artists' imaginations with some evocative, lush backdrops, all obviously hand-painted.

Mona herself -- and her vampire bat sidekick, Froderick -- are 3D, as are all the other characters in the game, as well as most of the interactive elements you'll encounter. Moving your cursor around the screen will reveal where the interactive points are, shown by the element's name appearing at the bottom of the screen. Alternatively, you can press and hold the Tab key, and all the elements will display an icon, letting you know what you can interact with. This is a device I could have used in all such games.

Clicking and holding the left mouse button invokes the action interface, which is a 4-way icon, with each arm bearing a different action: Talk, Touch, Look, and Transform Into Bat. Each action, when committed, is accompanied by dialogue, even if it's an action that can't be done at that time. Right-clicking will invoke Mona's coffin -- her inventory -- where you can select items to use on outside elements, including Froderick himself. But there's another interesting mechanic to use.

Occasionally, Mona will attempt to interact with something, then say "I could use this, but not right now. I'll remember it for later." At that point, a glowing blue version of the item appears in the coffin, serving as a reminder that something can be done at a future point.

If I have any quibbles with A Vampyre Story, it's two-fold: first, Mona's voice is so high-pitched it got painful to listen to her after a few sentences. Her Parisian accent is adorable, but her vocalization left a ringing in my ears. Second, the game falls prey to the same thing all those other point-and-click adventure games did all along -- solving the puzzle at hand frequently devolves to a try-every-item approach, rather than an exercise in applied logic. But if you've been yearning for a good return to form, and have already finished with all the Telltale Games offerings, A Vampyre Story will sate your need handily. You can grab it right here at Big Download, for both Mac and PC.